I never made a Christmas List when I was a child. My parents—probably correctly—thought it encouraged materialism and detracted from the meaning of the holiday, and so I was never allowed to ask for anything specific. I guess their approach worked, because the idea of making a wish list still makes me uncomfortable, but I want to make an exception this year.

Dear internet:

I want an open web and I want it for everyone. I want net neutrality codified in modern communications law. (I want modern communications law.)

I want services that respect our data. I want networks that lets us act with confidence and without constantly glancing over our shoulders at our privacy settings. I want systems that reveal power structures and allow us to question them instead of obscuring their workings and reflexively strengthening their positions.

I want better crypto.

I want a culture that nourishes the quiet and subtle as well as the frantic and exuberant. I want safety for the vulnerable and in-between spaces for the unexpected.

I want tools made to fit more hands.

I want us to learn how to take better care of each other, in our actions and in the things we build. I want us to learn how to take better care of the things we make.

I want more play and less game.

(It’s more complicated than that. I love you. Good night.)

Erin

This thought was written by Erin Kissane and first published on Wednesday, 25 December 2013.

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